History of Computers (aptly enough: http://www.computerhistory.org) 1945 Konrad Zuse begins work on the first computer algorithmic programming language. He builds four binary digital computers, the Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4 (apparently he likes figuring about with complex numbers) but only the Z4 survived WW2 History of the Internet (1962: Genesis) "In the Beginning, ARPA created the ARPANET. And the ARPANET was without form and void. And darkness was upon the deep. And the spirit of ARPA moved upon the face of the network and ARPA said, 'Let there be a protocol,' and there was a protocol. And ARPA saw that it was good. And ARPA said, 'Let there be more protocols,' and it was so. And ARPA saw that it was good. And ARPA said, 'Let there be more networks,' and it was so." -- Danny Cohen Arpa: The Advanced Research Projects Agency of America (1963: Babel) An American industry-government committee develops ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), the first universal standard for computers, which comprimises 128 7-string symbols (of ones and zeroes) that represent letters, arabic numerals, or an assortment of punctuation marks and symbols. (1964: Growth) IBM sets the standards for computers with the 8-bit byte, with its System 360 of the $5 billion research investment. A single System 360 costs $90, 000. At the same time, online transactions debut with IBM's SABRE system for American Airlines, linking a mere 2000 terminals in 60 cities via telephone lines. (1965) PDP-87 is unveiled, the first commercially successful (read: not just for large mega-rich organisations) minicomputer- a computer small enough to fit on a desktop. Its price? $18, 000, 1/5 of the price of a System 360. (1969: Man touches down on Moon) After installation in September, handwritten logs from UCLA show the first host-to-host connection, from UCLA to SRI, is made on October 25, 1969. The first ‘Log-In’ crashes the IMPs, but the next one works! (